For the past few years, I have received the Origami fold-a-day calendar. Sadly, I have yet to complete any of them. In fact, I didn't even open the one for 2008. One reason is that for most of 2008 I did not have a desk job, which translates to not having a place to put a daily calendar. Another reason is, until recently, the 2008 calendar was "stored" in the cluttered mess of my home office. Anyway, while trying to un-clutter my office, I found the 2008 calendar! Yeah!
I love origami for several reasons: there is a simple beauty in each piece; it has always been amazing to me the multitude of things that can be created from a simple square piece of paper; there is a meditative effect, a centering, that occurs when I fold paper; and it gets my creative juices flowing. So, now that I have found the calendar, I am going to fold each piece. I started the other night, I am already gotten through April.
Most of the pieces are cute, some of them really make me wonder about the person who created the piece, but overall it is a fabulous process. I find myself thinking about how to incorporate some of them into my other art work, which is really the reason I decided to fold the entire calendar, to kick my creative butt into action. While I am unemployed (I return to work in April), I have an opportunity to work on several projects that have fallen to the wayside because I was too busy working. I have not taken advantage of the time off. So, instead of beating myself up for not getting anything done, I am choosing to look and move forward.
Here is a link to directions for folding a paper crane. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy beasts (others include the dragon and tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years.
The below image is a photograph that I have recently added to my portfolio, entitled "Sugaring". It is a 16" x 6" digital photograph that will be printed on watercolor paper and will be limited to 250 prints. © 2008
The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson is the Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the US. He is best known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained as a bishop. He was invited to give the invocation at the opening inaugural event on January 18, a concert held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately, his prayer was not carried by HBO's broadcast, and in fact, most of the people who had gathered for the concert could not hear him because the PA system was not working. Why HBO did not carry the invocation or why the PA system was not working properly, I will leave up to others to argue. To their credit, The Presidential Inaugural Committee has taken responsibility for what it calls "an error." In my opinion, this is a case of "too little, too late" but an apology was made. Below is the transcription of the invocation... simply put it, it is a beautiful prayer and definitely worth the read! _________________________________________________________________________________ O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
- Clean my office
- Make two artist books
- 3 prints of my Bridge photo
- 3 prints of my Lupine photo
- Finish brochure for Island Country Club
- Fold origami pieces
- File paper work for ICC liquor license
- Mail in work search forms
